Pile driver



April 4, 1961 J. G. wYERs 2,978,o4s

PILE DRIVER Filed Jan. 20, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan Gerri/ Wyers IN VENTOR.

Maoh. BY gw* April 4, 1961 J. G. wYl-:Rs 2,978,045

PILE DRIVER Filed Jan. 20, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan Gerr/' Wyers IN VENTOR.

` i PILE DRIVER i p i JanGerrit Wyers, Windthorst, Saskatchewan, CanadaFiled Ian. 20, 1958, Ser. No. 709,939 4 C|aims.11(ci.- list-.151)vinvention relates to a pile`driver and ;more particularlyv to a piledriver whose principal application is' in drving posts into the ground.6

An object of the invention is to provide a machine which is adapted tobe connected vto an ordinary tractor and use the power from the tractorpower take-off for the purpose of actuating a pile driver hammer. Withmy machine I amable to setmore ,postsandvwith a minimum of efort.Ordinarily, a farmer owns or has access to a tractor. Every tractor hasa power takeofi providing Van excellent source of power by which tooperate a machine which is constructed in accordv ance with myinvention. Inasmuch as fencing is an important function, and the drivingof the posts into the 'ground is at best, a laborious -task, my machineserves an important function. v

My pile driver has a hammer release Vmechanism which s very smoothlyoperative. There is a drum upon which' the hammer cable is wound, thedrum i ridng freely on a mainv rotary shaft,l Brackets are bolted to themain shaft on both sides of the, drum on again engaged by the Vdog tocommence another cycle of operation.

-: a .coupling 34 at their forward ends.

In the accompanying .drawings there is shown a tractor A1'0 which isconventional in everyway. It schematically represents any manufacturer'smake of tractor which has Va power take-off 12 by which drive shaft 14is op.- erated. The drive shaft has universal joints 16 and 18 at itsends, one universal joint connecting with the drive shaft and the otherconnecting with shaft 20 that -is mountedv in a saddle bearing 22 at theupper end of a support 24 onl the frame 26 of'my machine 8. Frame 26 hassides 27 `and 28 joined by a plurality of trans- 'verse framememberse29, 30 and 31. Angulatedand converging front frame members 32and 33'- are attached at the forward ends of sides 27 and ,28 and'theyhave The coupling is connectedto` tractor drawbar 36, this .being theway that the machine 8 is drawn. Rear axle 38 is attached by hangers 40to the frame 26, and it has Wheels 41 at its ends.

,Shaft 44 is mounted in bearingis *45 and 46 that are disposed onsupport 24 and on an upright support'4'8 carried by a rear part of frame26. Enmeshed gears 50 and 51 on shafts 44 and 20, respectively,establish a drive connection between the tractor power take-OE 12 and adrum or pulley 54. The pulley is mounted on shaft 44 and has cable 58entrained over it. The pulley 54 is partially submerged in an oil bathby being located in a container 60 that Vhas oil 61 in it. A partiallycylindrical guard 62 is arranged over slightl-y morethan three-quartersof the periphery of the pulley whichgare mounted dogs'which'engage lugs'that Vare mounted on the drum. The brackets then take the drum'aroundfor one 'full revolution, thereby winding,V the cable and liftingthe hammer. At the end of one revolution, the dogs fall free and releasethe drum lugs.

The drum then rotates freely in the opposite direction 4 as it is pulledby the weight of the hammer. The cycle i then repeats itself therebycontinually providing an excellent source of force for driving fenceposts or other posts,poles, etc. into the ground.

A further object of the inventon is to provide a praci tical machine forthe purposes described. It isso constructed that it may |be manufacturedat a low unit cost and yet, it performs its intended function verysatisfactorily. i

Other objects and features of importance will become apparent infollowing the description of -the illustrated form of the invention.

Fgure 1 is a fragmentary side sectional view of a tractor and a machineconstructed in accordance with the invention. i

Figure 2 is a top view of the structure in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a rear view showing a portion of the machine.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4+4 of Figure 3. I

Figure S is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing the hammerconstruction and its connection with the pair of rails that form a trackfor the hammer.

Figure 6 is a sectional view showing the hammer release mechanism in oneposition that is, as the cable is 'being wound on the drum.

Figure 7 is a sectional view similar to that of Figure 6 but showing thelug of the drum being 'released enabling the drum to be rotated in theopposite directon due to the weight of the hammer.

igure 8 is a sectional view showing the drum as it is to preventsplashing and accidental injury, and to serve a cam function as will bedescribed. I

Pulley or winding drum 54 constitutes Van important part of theinvention. It is capable of rotating freely on shaft 44 butl isdrivingly connected -to the shaft by means of two dogs`70 and 71. Thedogs 70 .and 71 are a part of a drive mechanism which is located in parton one side of the winding drum A54 and in' part 'on the opposite side.The structnres are identical and therefore one is shown in detail inFigures 6-8 inclusive. Dog 70 has a roller 72 at one end which isadapted to contact the inner surface of guard 62. This guard not onlyserves the secondary functions that were mentioned previously, but alsoserves the primary function of a cam. Dog 70 has a keeper 73 protrudingfrom it and the keper is arranged to contact lug or pin 74V biases lthedog 70 in a direction to force the roller 72 into contact with thesurface of guard 62.

' Ca'ble 58 extends over a sheave 79 that is mounted for free rotationon a shaft-80. The shaft is carried 'by a pair of brackets 81 on theupper end of rails 82 and 83. These rails are preferably, but notnecessarily, constructed of a pair of I-bearns (Fig. 5) and they form atrack 84 within which hammer 85 is fitted. The hammer has four elongatedgrooves in the sides thereof by which to interfit with the confrontingflanges of the I-.beam rails 82 and 83 thereby interlocking the hammerso that it is constrained in its motion. Braces 88 extend from the toppart of the rails to frame 26, firmly anchoring it and bracing itagainst shocks.

The post that is to be driveninto the ground is placed between the railsso as to be in lthe path of travel of the hammer 85. Bars 87 that arepivoted to one front and one rear ra-il are opened to admit the post andthen they are returned to their latcli rests 89. After `the post isdriven in, the bars 87 are opened to allow the machine to be moved. ebars 87 help to keep the post centered between the rails, especiallyduring the beginning of the driving of the post.

Upon rotation of the shaft 44, the winding drum 54 is moved in suchdirection as to wind cablelfnon its periphery. On one of the cable endsthere is an attachment to the drum and the other ehd is .attaehedto thehammer 85 While the intermediate part o tthe` cahle entraned over sheave7,9. WithV the positionv of'p-rt shown in Figure. 6, the dogs 70 and171will engagev their lugs or pins 74 causing thedogs to rotate the windngdrum. This lifts the hammer, pullihgit past the rocke 90 which ismounted for pivotal mo en'ient on, 'theV lateral bracket 91 near thetopof thegrail. A ratchettcan be used to hold the rocker 970 insnchposition a to support the hammer 85 in the raised position.7 The ratchetcan be released by handle 92 whichvis` connected to the ratchet by link93. t

The rocker 90 may be used forretainngl the hammer in its raised positionwhen the maehine is transported from one location to another, but Whenthe machine; is in use, the rocker is movedout of the path of travel ofthe hammer so that the latter is free to rise and fall. When duringraising of the hammer the drum 54 is rotated from the position showninFigure 8 to that shown in Figure 6, the dogs 70, 71 will eventuallyreach the space or opening in the cam 62 whenthe hammer is fully raised.At that time the dogs will be permitted to fly outwardly by the action of the Springs 78, thns disengaging the keepers 73 from the lugs 74, and,permitting the drum to rotate freely in the reltivel'y oppositedirection 'as shown in Figure 7,v while the hammer fallsi to' itslowered position by gravity. Thereupqn, Vcontinuedv rotation of theshaft 44 will again cause the dogs 70, 71 to be drawn nwardly by the cam62 so that the keepers 73 again engage the lugs 74 for the next cycle ofoperation. i 'i The foregoing is considered as illustr'ative only of:the principles of the invention. Eurther, since numerous modifications`and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is notdesired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operationshown and described, and accordingly all ,suitable-inodifictions andequivalents may be resorted to, favllingwithin the scope of theinvention as claimed.

Whatis claimed as new is as follows:

wants 1. In an actuating mechanism for pile driver hammers, thecombination of a continuously rotatable drive shaft, a drum mounted onsaid shaft and rotatable independently thereof, a hammer raising andlowering cable secured at one end thereof to said drum and adapted to beunwound from the drum by the weight of a hammer attached to the cable,la crank arm secured to said shaft at one side of said drum, a drvingdog having inner and outer ends and pivoted at its inner end to saidcrank arm, said dog being swingable radially inwardly and outwardlyrelative to said shaft, a latrally projecting lug provided at saidoneslide of the drum, a keeper pro- O vided ntermediate'the ends of saiddog' and engaging said lug when the dog is swunglinwardly to impartrotation to the drum by said shaft for windng said cable on the drum, asubstantially annular cam track surrounding said drum and provided at apoint along its circumference with an opening, and resilient meansconnected to said dog and urging the same outwardly against said camtrack 'and to a projected position into said opening, engagement of said'dog with the cam track sustainin'g said keeper in engagement with saidlug during windng of`` said cable and projection of the dog by saidresilient means into said opening dsengaging said keeper from said lugVduring unwinding of the cable from the drum.

t2. The device as defined in claim 1 together with a rotatable rollerprovided at the outer end of said dog and engageable with said camtrack.

3. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein said cable extends outwardlythrough said opening in said cam track.

4. Thedcvice as defined in claim 1 together with an outwardlyv curvedguiding lip provided on said cam track at one side of the openingtherein for guiding the outer end of said dog into enegagement with thecam track.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED sTArEs PATENTS

